


After Effect of the Dream

by oohlips123



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Dangan Ronpa Spoilers, Neo World Program (Dangan Ronpa), Tags Are Hard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:07:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25319542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oohlips123/pseuds/oohlips123
Summary: “It was bright. The light pierced his irises and left him wondering if he’d gone blind.”“Everything she told us was a lie.”“Neo World Program?”
Relationships: Saihara Shuichi & Everyone
Comments: 4
Kudos: 47





	1. Awakening from the Dream

It was bright. The light pierced his irises and left him wondering if he’d gone blind.

He closed his eyes. It was a little better now, the pain. It still hurt, with some light making it through his eyelids, but it was tolerable now.

He laid there, and assessed his situation. The pain from the light made thinking, made  _ remembering _ , hard but that wouldn’t stop him from trying. He didn’t know who or where he was, and something told him that not knowing would be bad. Questions came to his mind, unbidden, like an ingrained instinct to figure things out, to  _ investigate _ .

Name? Shuichi Saihara.

Age? Sixteen.

Talent? Ultimate Detective.

Now he remembered. He was Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective (in training), and he was currently in an unknown place with an irritatingly bright light shining into his eyes. He should try to figure that out next.

What was he doing before this light got here? Before  _ he _ got here?

And with that thought, all of his missing memories came rushing back to him.

The Ultimate Academy.

Monokuma and his Kubs.

The Killing Game.

Everyone killing or being killed.

Tsumugi’s betrayal. 

The TRUTH being revealed.

Despair. Hope. 

Both rejected in order to fight against an unfeeling world.

Until there were only three left.

Maki. Himiko.

Shuichi’s eyes shot open, the light in his eyes ignored in favor of finding his friends. The only two left alive after the ballots were left blank and K1-B0 dealt out the punishment that was meant to kill them.

Shuichi could feel his muscles strain in his struggle to rise up from his prone position on what he is only now identifying as a bed. He could hear his heart beat frantically in his ears, perfectly in sync with the beep beep  _ beeping _ that he’d just noticed. 

Hospital. Okay. How’d he get in a hospital? He’s supposed to be dead!

Freaking out now. The beeping is getting faster. 

Is he breathing? He feels his chest move, feels the air going in and out of his windpipe. All evidence points to him getting oxygen from the air to his bloodstream, but he’s not feeling any better. 

He’s hyperventilating. That’s not good. He can’t find Maki and Himiko if he passes out. 

Guess his body didn’t get the memo because his breath is still short and the light in his eyes seems brighter and black is creeping around the edge of his vision.

“Shuichi!”

He turned his head slightly, vision blurry from the tears in his eyes (when had those gotten there?).

Long, ash blonde hair. Plum colored eyes. Familiar, musical note shaped hair clips.

He felt gentle yet grounding hands grasp tightly to his shoulders.

“K-Kaede?” He rasped. 

Then everything went dark.

  
  


When he next awoke, it was to the sound of a piano playing a familiar song. The only classical song he knew by name.

Clair de Lune by Debussy.

Shuichi let the rise and fall of the notes lift him from his doze. The light above his head was still bright, he could tell that even through his closed eyes, but no longer painful.

He opened his eyes. 

Bright light? Check.

Bed? Check.

Beeping? Still there, and somehow keeping beat with the music.

Speaking of music…

Shuichi turned his head towards the soft clicking of piano keys, his laden eyes widening at the sight that greeted him.

“Kaede.” 

He’d thought it was a dream, her appearing before he blacked out. One final gift from the universe, given to his dying mind as he succumbed to his inevitable death beneath the Academy’s rubble.

At the sound of his voice, the figure glanced over her shoulder, the keyboard on her lap looking like a grand piano as her nimble fingers continued to play that familiar melody. She smiled at him, a smile he thought he’d never see again.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” She said, her hands hovering above the keys as she let the final notes ring throughout the room.

His vision was blurry again as tears came from his eyes. He didn’t try to stop them.

“Kaede? H-How are you- Where are we? Are- Are we de-”

He stopped his question when he felt a small smack to his head. Kaede had made her way to his bed and sat down, her keyboard left in her previous seat.

“Now, none of that, mister,” she scolded playfully, “Everything is probably sore, right? I don’t think you’d feel so horrible if you were dead.”

Shuichi couldn’t argue with that. “But, how- How are you  _ here _ ? You  _ died _ .  _ I _ died.  _ Everyone _ died. So how? Where is here, anyway?”

Kaede looked to the scaling in contemplation, trying to find the right words to say.

She looked at Shuichi with sad eyes and said, “She lied.”

“Who lied?”

“Tsumugi. Everything she told us, especially to those of you who made it to the final trial, was a lie. From the truth of the outside world, to the true mastermind and the audience. Everything was a lie, because none of it was real.”

Shuichi was lost. “None of it was… real?”

Kaede shook her head. “None of it. Everything that took place in the Academy for Gifted Juveniles took place in a simulation. A prototype of a virtual reality program, like the one Miu put you all in.”

Shuichi couldn’t make sense of any of it. Everything was a lie? Then, did anything he knew hold weight anymore? What was fake? What was real? Was he really fiction, or did the past he remembered fit into this new reality he found himself in? Was this reality, or just another layer in the dream?

Kaede must have seen his quickly spiraling thoughts in his eyes because she gave another soft smack to his forehead. She had a strained smile on her face.

“I’m probably not explaining things very well, huh? Maybe they’ll have better luck.”

There was a quiet knock at the door on the other side of the room.

“Oh. That must be them now.” She arose from her spot on his bed and made her way to the door.

Shuichi gathered his strength and finally sat up. He didn’t want to be in such a vulnerable position anymore. “Who?”

She smiled as she turned the knob, “Our hosts, of course.”

The door opened, revealing a young man with spiky brown hair, a very prominent ahoge not unlike K1-B0’s, and hazel eyes. Despite his professional looking black suit and tie, his eyes conveyed a boyish attitude that didn’t necessarily clash with his twenty-something face.

“Good to see you’re awake,” he said, stepping into the room, “I’m Makoto Naegi, of the Future Foundation’s 14th Branch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could have sworn these kids were like 14-15 at most (b/c I was 14 when I first started highschool). Apparently not though. Google said, “Japanese high school starts at 16 and you don't get into Hope's Peak until you've had one year in high school. So the characters believe themselves to be 17.” That’s CRAZY, dudes! None of these kids, from ANY of the Danganronpa games, look like they’re freakin’ 17! Especially the guys. 17 means facial hair and deep voices and stuff. Japan confuses me…
> 
> I don’t know why I’m starting another fanfic before I finish “After Leaving the Bridge.” I know I’m just gonna kill myself by trying to work on two fanfictions from two different fandoms, all while keeping up with my summer Spanish class, but I’m DOING IT ANYWAY! The chapter 2 of “After Leaving the Bridge” should be up within a week or two. I’m nearly finished with the last section, for anyone looking forward to that. 
> 
> If you have any questions about what the heck is going on in this story, leave a comment. If you don’t have questions and just want to say something, leave a comment. If you want to bash on my horrendous writing, leave a comment! All comments are welcome in this household!


	2. Explaining the Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naegi does some talking while Shuichi does some listening

“F-Future Foundation?”

Shuichi’s eyes widened. Pieces of information he’d obtained at the Academy started coming together, forming a vague picture in his mind.

“So,” he started, feeling his throat close up, “my memories, they  _ weren’t _ all made up?”

Naegi’s eyes softened, empathy exuding from his every movement as he made his way over to Shuichi’s bed. Distantly, Shuichi acknowledged Kaede’s form, stepping out the door and shutting it behind her.

“Nope,” the young man said with a smile, “your memories are, in fact, almost entirely correct. Your life before the Academy, your knowledge of the Ultimate Despair and the Killing Game of Hope's Peak are real. You ended up fixing most of the discrepancies in those memories when you went through that last trial.”

Shuichi thought on this. “So… what parts of my memory  _ are _ fake?”

“Well, for one, the fight against the Ultimate Despair is still ongoing,” He replied, a tired look entering his eyes that made him look older than he probably was, “While the Ultimate Despair, Junko Enoshima, is dead, the Remnants of Despair remain.”

“Remnants?” Shuichi didn’t remember any mention of Remnants. Just a group that went by the title “Ultimate Despair”.

“The Remnants of Despair were students at Hope's Peak Academy that Junko brainwashed into Despair just before the Tragedy. With Junko gone, they are the main source of the Despair still in the world and thus, must be captured before the world can start healing.”

“And where do we fit into all of this,” Shuichi asks. Because he just can’t see a connection between what he now knows to be reality and the hell he had just escaped.

Naegi winced. “That is mostly likely our fault. When the Future Foundation started their operation of apprehending the Remnants of Despair, the Remnants attempted to make a back up, of sorts.”

He pulled out a manila folder and handed it to Shuchi. The blue haired boy opened it, and was greeted with a familiar picture. It was his high school ID photo, next to what must be a school file and transcript. Flipping through the folder, he saw the faces of his friends, each with a bright red stamp that said “Accepted.”

“You and your friends were set to be the 79th class at Hope’s Peak Academy before the Tragedy, as they pick out candidates a least a year in advance,” Naegi continued, “Sometime during Junko’s reign, one of the Remnants must have gotten a hold of these. They knew where you would most likely be and whom you held dear. That made it easy for the Remnants to find and capture all 16 students of the would-be 79th class and place you all into the prototype Neo World Program.”

Shuichi’s eyebrows shot up. “Neo World Program? Isn’t that the virtual reality that Miu fixed?”

“In a way. The Neo World Program you all entered was the base for the Program the Remnants place you in. Alter Ego described it as “going down into another level of the program”. It had the basic virtual reality functions of the final product, but none of the more advanced ones. That’s why the graphics of your avatars were so rudimentary and the world map was so small.”

Scratching his head, Shuichi said, “I don’t know much about computers and programming, but I guess that makes sense.” He frowned. “But why were we placed in the Program in the first place? What did the Remnants want?”

Naegi frowned, and then sighed. “To make you fall into Despair.”

“Fall into Despair? How?!”

“The Neo World Program was originally designed as a way to undo trauma sustained in the real world by replacing memories from the real world with information in the virtual one. Done the way the creator intended, this means that someone who has fallen into despair can be returned to the side of hope by placing them in the simulation and exposing their minds to hope filled memories to replace the old ones. When the individual awakens the information from the virtual world will become their new reality, with their memories from before gone forever.”

Shuichi felt sick. “But that means the reverse is also possible, right?”

Naegi nodded solemnly. “We think the Remnants were trying to make you their successors. If they all ended up getting caught or killed, then you 16 would take their place and become the next group to rain Despair onto the world,” Naegi frowned, “The Future Foundation is so focused on eradicating the current Remnants that no one would be prepared for another group suddenly appearing. You guys may have very well destroyed us if this plan had worked.”

Shuichi sat in silence, letting the new information soak in. The Remnants, The Neo World Program, The Killing Game. Shuichi took all of it and compartmentalized it all, committing it all to memory. After he’d organized everything, only one question remained.

“What went wrong?” He asked, summoning the courage he usually only found in the Class Trials in order to look directly into Naegi’s eyes, “Why  _ didn’t _ we fall into Despair?”

Naegi smiled, his eyes filling with relief, like he was scared all this information would push Shuichi over a ledge.

“Three things ended up making the Remnant’s plan go awry, and allowed your group to resist the Despair.” He held up a finger. “The first is where the Remnants took you all from.”

“What?”

“All of you were out there, in the world that was slowly falling to Despair, and were still sane. I’m pretty sure a few of you even  _ watched _ the Killing Game I and my friends were forced to participate in at Hope’s Peak Academy. Despite all of this, you kept yourselves as safe as you could and didn’t join the masses in the Despair induced mania. You’d built up a kind of tolerance from that exposure, so the Killing Game that should have plunged you deeper into Despair only made your minds resist even more.”

He held up a second finger. “The second reason was a mistake made by the Remnants.”

“We think they had the Ultimate Mechanic, Kazuichi Soda, alter the programming of the Neo World Program. And despite all his skills in machines, he can only get so far in messing with a program made with the help of the Ultimate Programmer. When he messed with the code, he ended up corrupting some essential pieces. 

The next-gen software, the code that tricks your mind into thinking what the simulation shows you is real, and the “Graduation” function were corrupted and melded together. Usually, whatever you experience in the virtual world, be it a paper cut or a deadly head wound, will be registered by your mind as real and appear on your body. 

When the two functions melded, some code got “lost in translation,” so to say. Grievous injuries were still registered, but no actual wounds appeared. The mental trauma remains, but the physical trauma only affects your avatars. In the case of in-simulation deaths, those were instead registered as a form of graduation. You were all kicked out before your brains could make sense of it.”

“So,” Shuichi started, “we ended up with all the PTSD but nothing to show for it?” 

Naegi gave a startled chuckle, “I guess you could say that, yeah. Normally when you Graduate, the simulation uploads your avatars into your bodies, forcibly erasing your past selves and your past memories. But none of you Graduated the way that was intended. Normally, you would need the “observer,” Monokuma in this case, to start the process. Due to the corrupted code, however, all of you ended up “graduating” through death, so your past memories weren’t deleted. From what we’ve seen in your friends who awoke earlier, your memories should come back within the next few days.”

Shuichi felt some tension leave his shoulders. He would remember, not through flashback lights and Monopad videos, but through his own brain power. Shuichi never wanted to see one of those ever again.

“The third thing that saved your group was in fact a some _ one _ , not a some _ thing _ . Your friend, Tsumugi Shirogane, was the first to be placed in and ended up corrupting the program even more upon entry. All the false information you were given was supplied by her imagination, so while it was still attempting to drag you into Despair, the effects were diluted by the world her mind had created. 

As a result, she took the brunt of the Programs attacks and the other 15 were left relatively unscathed.”

“Is Tsumugi going to be okay?” Shuichi asked. Despite everything that she did to them in the Program, Shuichi didn’t want to forget her friendship, even if she was pretending at the time.

“She hasn’t woken up just yet, but we think, with enough time, she’ll recover. Her mindset throughout the ordeal, that it was all fiction and a part of a grande show, stopped her from falling completely.”

Shuichi let it all sink in. He couldn’t help but think about how lucky they’d been. If it weren’t for these few moments of happenstance and error, all sixteen of them could have awoken as completely different people. They could have brought the world to ruin, with smiles on their faces. 

Shuichi shuddered at the thought.

“So,” he said, trying to get his mind off the “what if’s” and back to the now, “what happens next?”

Naegi smiled and pat Shuichi on the head, making the blue haired boy feel like a kid. Shuichi decided that it wasn’t an unwelcome feeling.

“That’s a discussion for another time,” Naegi said, “I was thinking that, if you were feeling up to it, you could see your friends. The ones that are awake, at least.”

Shuichi didn’t need a mirror to know how his eyes lit up upon hearing Naegi’s suggestion.

“Yeah,” Shuichi said, a grateful smile forming as the older man helped him to his feet, “That sounds real nice, actually.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I’m sure some of you noticed, but I completely omitted the V3 cast’s knowledge of DanganRonpa 2 in this fanfic. My reasoning? When Shuichi read that booklet about Hope’s Peak in Kokichi’s lab, it didn’t mention anything about Jabberwock Island. But then they get into the final trial and suddenly everyone knows what went on there! If memory serves me right, that entire situation with the Remnants and Naegi was kept a secret from the public by the Future Foundation, so that even that book Shuichi found shouldn’t know what went down there. I just found it odd, so I decided to place this fanfiction of mine right in between DanganRonpa and Danganronpa 2. Naegi and the survivors have defeated Junko and joined the Future Foundation, which is now focused on capturing the Remnants of Despair.
> 
> If I can, I’ll try to get the next chapter written and posted before classes start. If I don’t, then you all might be waiting a while. I’ll do my best!
> 
> If you have any questions, leave a comment. If you don’t have questions and just want to say something, leave a comment. If you want to bash on my horrendous writing, leave a comment! All comments are welcome in this household! 


	3. Friends from the Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if I got your hopes up the other day. I clicked on the wrong work and momentarily posted the final chapter of my other work here. 
> 
> On the upside, this is the ACTUAL chapter 3!! Yay! And now that I'm finished with "After Leaving the Bridge" I can put more focus into this fic. Unless I decide to actually post one of the dozen or so plot bunnies I have in reserve...
> 
> ANYWAY, enjoy the chapter!

With Naegi's help, Shuichi was able to walk most of the way to one of the building’s conference room's where he was told his friends were.

Keyword being "most".

Though the young detective hated it, he was still a bit weak from his time in the simulation. So when his legs gave out about three-fourths of the way to their destination, Shuichi could do nothing but blush as Naegi presented his back to carry him piggy-back the rest of the way.

(Naegi was surprisingly strong, Shuichi found himself thinking as they slowly made their way down the hall. Not Gonta strong, or even Kaito strong. But the guy was only a few inches taller than Kokichi, and with how many times the ultimate supreme leader had shown just how physically weak he was, Naegi being able to carry Shuichi for even this long made the detective pause.)

 _And that’s why you’re still in training,_ Shuichi scolded himself, _I could make assumptions in the simulator and usually be okay, but the real world is more complex than what amounted to a murder mystery show._

Sooner than he expected, Shuichi found himself shakily standing in front of a set of polished, wooden doors, suddenly feeling apprehensive. They were all alright, right? Neither Kaede nor Naegi had said anything about casualties, but what if that was because they didn’t want to overwhelm him? What if-

Naegi looked over and gave Shuichi a knowing smile. 

And then he opened the doors.

"SHUICHI!!!” he heard someone yell, and soon found himself struggling to stand as a red haired blur slammed into him.

"Himiko!" He cried, returning the girl's enthusiastic hug with gusto. Despite wearing a pale blue hospital gown like Shuichi, the little magician (read: mage) still had on her signature hat. Even though the hat clashed with the gown, Shuichi felt comforted by the familiar article of clothing, despite how the pointy tip nearly stabbed him in the eye.

"Took you long enough. We've been awake for a while now." Shuichi looked up to see Maki's usually stoic face make way for a small smile. Her hair was loose, out of their usual pigtails, and her red scrunchies wrapped around her wrists. She, too, was wearing a hospital gown. "Aren’t you supposed to be on bed rest right now?"

"Speaking of supposed to be in bed, let's get you to a seat! You're shaking like a leaf!"

Before he could fully register what the voice behind him had said, Shuichi found himself lifted into the air once more, his body cradled against a familiar form.

"Kaito!" Shuichi cried, too happy at seeing his once-thought-dead friend alive and well again to be embarrassed about how exactly he was being carried to the lunch table.

After being (somewhat) gently set down in his seat, Shuichi looked around at the table.

Rantaro, Kaede, Ryoma, Kirumi, Angie, Tenko, Miu, Kaito, Maki, and Himiko.

Ten out of sixteen sat there, alive, alongside him. Shuichi felt like he could cry.

Based on the tightening of Kaito's arm around his shoulder and the tissue Kirumi just gave him, it looks like he already is.

His joy soon turned to worry, though, as his analytical mind began to wonder.

 _Ten out of sixteen_ , Shuichi thought. _Naegi said Tsumugi is still asleep. So where are the other four?_

After having a plate of hospital food (it looks worse than it tastes, he tells himself) shoved in front of him, Shuichi voiced this question.

”From what Ms. Asahina told us,” Rantaro responded, ”three of them are still asleep.”

Shuichi started. “Still asleep? Was there something wrong with the program that didn’t wake us up in order, or something?”

The others looked at eachother, no one apparently wanting to tell him. 

It was the ever diligent Kirumi who finally spoke. “We all indeed awoke in order of our death, but our three human companions were placed into medical comas soon after waking.”

“Medical comas? Why?”

“Our _bodies_ weren’t affected by the injuries we sustained in the simulation,” Maki stated, “but our _brains_ were. The trauma we experienced was registered as having actually happened. Those four experienced especially agonizing deaths.”

“Until three days ago I, too, was in a medical coma,” Kirumi continued, “When we finally woke up, our brains were still processing everything that happened, so we were, in a sense, still experiencing that pain. Before I was put under, I distinctly remember feeling blades cut into my skin. My hands felt numb with pain, like the thorns were still in there. And I could feel blood seeping out of every wound, despite not actually having sustained any injuries.”

Shuichi shuddered. 

_Korekiyo: boiled alive. Gonta: stabbed and burned alive. Kokichi: poisoned and crushed by hydraulic press._ He thought, _no wonder they’re being kept under. Experiencing that once would be bad enough. Having to experience it again is nothing short of torture._

There’s still one unaccounted for.

“What about Kiibo?” Shuichi asked

Miu spoke up, her voice as loud as usual. “The idiot nearly fried his motherboard when he blew himself up to get rid of the virus that was keeping _him_ in the program. I had to rewrite and reconnect his body’s coding one system at a time, _by hand_ , in order to keep his _everything_ in tact.” She pointed to a closed door Shuichi had entered from. “He’s down the hall while my computer does a few more check ups. He should be awake by tomorrow.”

Shuichi sighed in relief. “That’s good. You really are great, Miu. I don’t know what we would have done in that simulation without your inventions.”

Angie jumped up and flung herself at Miu. “Shuichi is right. Atua commends you for your help in freeing the last of our friends.”

Miu suddenly looked uncomfortable. “You ain’t gotta thank me or anything. When I woke up, I decided I was going to fix him no matter what anyone else said. Not fixing that bucket of bolts would go against a promise I made. Besides,” Miu’s face turned bright red and drool fell out the corner of her mouth, “I haven’t finished… _examining_ him yet.”

After witnessing that... Interesting reaction, Shuichi decided to drop the subject.

 _So, ten out of sixteen are awake, four are still asleep, and one is currently being repaired. Counting me, that means everyone from the simulation is safe and accounted for._ Shuichi thought. He glanced up at Kaede, a small smile pulling on his lips. _Looks like her wish came true, despite everything that happened in between. All of us got out of that academy alive._

For the first time in a while, Shuichi felt content. He allowed himself to fully stop, and breath. He was safe, his friends were alive, and Monokuma and his cubs couldn’t make them kill each other anymore. 

Basking in the sound of (most of) his friends happily eating in the cafeteria, Shuichi turned off his mind, just for a moment.

And then something occurred to him.

“So what happens now?”

Ten pairs of eyes turn to Shuichi, and he squirms at the attention he’s not used to getting outside of a trial.

“What do you mean, bro?” Kaito asks, or more accurately, mumbles around the spoon hanging out of his mouth.

“I mean, now that we’re out of the Neo World Program and all of us failed to fall into despair, what are we going to do next?” 

Maki nodded, looking contemplative, “That is a good question. Going out into the world on our own would be a bad move, what with the Remnants of despair and all of Junko Enoshima’s followers still running around. There’s not a lot of safe places for us to go.”

Rantaro nodded. “In the past, traveling around the world without a specific destination in mind would usually be okay. People are typically kind enough to help you along the way." He scratched his head, "but from what we're being told, and the small things some of us are remembering, that… isn't a viable option anymore."

“It seems we arrived at an opportune moment, then.”

Shuichi and the others turned to face the cafeteria door. Naegi was at the door, holding it open politely for the man who presumably had spoken earlier. Standing tall, with an imposing air about him, was a dirty-blonde haired, blue eyed man in an assumedly Future foundation regulation three piece suit.

The man walked assuredly over to their table and introduced himself. “My name is Byukaka Togami. I was a member of Hope’s Peak Academy’s 78th class, and held the title of the Ultimate Scion.”

Naegi interjected, noticing the confusion Shuichi and his friends were projecting at the unknown man.

“Sorry for our intrusion. He’ll grab any advantage he can, even if he comes across as rude in the process. This is Byakuya Togami. He was my classmate at Hope’s Peak and is one of the survivors of the Killing Game that Junko Enoshima held there.”

Shuichi nodded slowly. _Okay. So I can at least assume this Togami works closely with Naegi._ Shuichi glanced at Kaito, noticing the look of distaste on his friend’s face. _He looks like an @ss but he_ is _a part of the branch that kept us safe while we were in the simulation. That says_ something _about his personality, though I can’t really tell what._

“In regards to where you all will go after you recover,” Togami continued, ignoring the group's hostility to his abrupt entrance, “that all depends on whether or not you accept our offer.”

Tenko stood up, suddenly standing in front of Himiko protectively. “What offer? I bet it’s something lewd. Just like a degenerate male to come up with something heinous.” She placed herself in front of Himiko. “Don’t worry Himiko! I’ll use Neo Aikido to protect you!” 

Togami glanced at Tenko, and then proceeded to ignore her. “Tell them Naegi.”

Naegi scratched his creek, looking embarrassed but unsuprised at the sudden order. He turned to Shuichi. “We were thinking about asking you all to join the Future Foundation. Working directly under us in Branch 14, of course.”

The suggestion, naturally, brought forth many comments from the kids at the table. From objections, to questions, Shuichi felt almost dizzy at the sudden noise in the once calm conference room. Although he had questions himself, he thought it better to wait until it would actually have the chance of being answered.

Despite the low volume that was typical of Shuichi’s shortest classmate, Ryoma’s base toned voice resonated within the room.

“Why _your_ Branch, specifically? There should at _least_ be thirteen others that you could dump us on.” Ryoma muttered around his candy cigarette.

Thanks to the sudden quiet that accompanied the question, Naegi was eventually able to get a word in. “The higher ups are kinda... paranoid after fighting Despair for so long. If they found out about what the Remnants were planning to do with you all, no matter that most of you made it out okay, well… I worry about what they may do to you.”

Togami nodded, making himself a part of the conversation once more despite his focus being on the tablet that was suddenly in his hands. “I and my surviving classmates had the “benefit” of having our Killing Game broadcast to the entire world. The Future Foundation saw our hope, and how it beat back Enoshima’s Despair. They knew us almost as well as we knew ourselves, at the time of our recruitment into the Foundation.”

“You guys don’t have that luxury,” Naegi continued, “The only ones who witnessed your triumph were me, Togami, and our four other classmates. We were able to secure this facility to keep you all hidden because Togami is the head of Branch 14. Everyone here is a part of our Branch, and as such, won't go blabbing to anyone about who you are without permission, or at least without giving a heads up first. This is the only way we can keep you safe.” Naegi scratched at his cheek in embarrassment again. “We may have some sway in the Foundation, but we’re not so arrogant to think that we could protect you from the entire Foundation should this get out. We think it’d be better if you were placed directly under us, so no eyes would be drawn to where exactly you all came from.”

Shuichi glanced around at his friends to try and gage their reactions to the offer, and stilled when he saw the looks on their faces. They were all looking at him and the looks on their faces… it looked like… like they were letting _him_ choose what to do. Shuichi doesn’t know where this faith in him came from, but he wasn’t planning on letting them down. 

So, Shuichi thought through what he had gathered.

_Disadvantages to joining the Future Foundation: Having to answer to an, as of yet unknown, chain of command. The aforementioned “higher ups” that supposedly don’t take kindly to those with even tenuous connections to Despair. Likely filtered information on the outside world given by the foundation until we’re deemed “well” enough._

_Advantages to joining the Future Foundation: Allies within the organization in the form of Naegi and his friends. Stability in both living conditions and work. The ability to negotiate terms of services with the Branch head through Naegi. Access to resources that will help in our recovery and the safety of those still unconscious._

The Pros seemed to outway the Cons at the moment.

Decision made, Shuichi looked at his friends one more time, silently asking if they were certain they wanted him to choose their path. Each gave him a nod of affirmation, with varying levels of enthusiasm, but it was affirmation nonetheless.

He looked back to the two Foundation members. “So what does this offer entail?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: Okay, me. It’s time to get to work on chapter 3.
> 
> My brain: But what about the chapters after that? I mean, you already know what’s gonna happen in this one, so why not write the next instead?
> 
> Me: But, the readers don’t know-
> 
> My brain: Come on. Just a few sentences wouldn’t hurt. You’ll finish this chapter eventually.
> 
> Me: Okay… But only an outline!
> 
> *Proceeds to write nearly the entirety of chapter 5, barely knowing what’s going to happen in chapters 3 and 4.*
> 
> Guys, my notes for this fic are all over. I’ve got sections from chapter 7 in chapter 4. But I finished chapter 3!!! Hurray!
> 
> I’m playing this whole thing by ear at this point, guys. The story isn’t really a story, but more a series of loosely connected glimpses into the life and times of DRV3 cast in Future Foundation, with things happening. Let’s see where that takes us!!!
> 
> I’ll try to get chapter 4 and 5 out before I head back to school. Wish me luck!
> 
> If you have any questions, leave a comment. If you don’t have questions and just want to say something, leave a comment. If you want to bash on my horrendous writing, leave a comment! All comments are welcome in this household!


	4. Idiosyncrasies from the Dream

The freedom Shuichi felt after he was finally free to wear regular clothes after weeks stuck in that hospital gown was almost euphoric. Dressed in a Future Foundation standard, the three-piece black suit was as liberating as it was itchy.

Future Foundation dress code regulation: All personnel of rank 3 or lower are to wear their standard uniforms at all times during work hours, including lunch breaks. Exemptions can be granted if: 1) the personnel in question has a medical necessity that would be hindered by the uniform, 2) the personnel in question has been given orders to dawn other clothes for specified purpose, or 3) the personnel in question gets explicit permission from their respective branch head.

Needless to say, the likelihood of Shuichi ever wearing something other than this suit during the day was minimal at best. Togami was a man of class, as Shuichi had come to understand, and necessitates that all his personnel in Branch 14 follow his example.

Despite the vague discomfort he feels in a suit not yet made his own, Shuichi still considers this a freedom from the thin, breezy, and embarrassing hospital gown. It’s because of this freedom he was granted that Shuichi began to notice how creative his friends could be when they weren’t allowed to wear their, for lack of a better word, “eccentric” clothing. 

Maki has lined both her coat and skirt in red, matching her red scrunchies which had long since returned to her hair to her signature pigtails. 

Himiko refuses to take off her hat and has adjusted her coat sleeves to look more like a wizard’s (read: mage’s) robes than of a three piece suit. 

Tenko’s bright yellow bow stands out stark next to the bland white and beige walls of the building. Her skirt is cut just short enough to allow her full mobility to perform her Neo Aikido when she deems necessary.

Kaito, predictably, wears his suit’s coat much like he did the coat of his outfit in the simulation, with his left arm appropriately clothed and the right side of the coat draped over his shoulder. On the inside of his suit, Shuichi can make out small, hand embroidered stars. 

(Well, the rules never forbade adding anything to the suits.)

Miu’s dress shirt always has at least three of the top buttons undone, with her reasoning being that she “has a rack that ALL the boys deserve to look at”. 

(Her vulgarness has kept most the “the boys” she speaks of away from her anyway, so Asahina just shook her head and let the blond be.)

Ryoma somehow got his hand on leather that looks cloth-like from a distance in order to make an entirely new coat, and has a hidden pocket in the leather coat for his cigarette candies that Shuichi is fairly sure Kurumi is making for him.

(Whether that’s Kurumi’s way of trying to make it up to the tennis player is none of Shuichi’s business. Despite how a part of him really wishes he could help them.)

Speaking of Kiruimi, she walks around the building in her typical maid attire, no Future Foundation regulation uniform in sight. Shuichi later learns that the Ultimate Maid had a long, long conversation with the head of Branch 14, and was given his express permission to forgo the uniform entirely.

(Shuichi was tempted to ask her how she convinced Togami, but ultimately decided not to. She has experience with high class individuals like the Branch head. She probably learned how to work their systems long ago.)

Angie cuts her dress shirts to emulate her signature bikini top, and any attempts to get her to wear spare shirts is met with either another shirt ruined to scissors, or the poor soul who was sent to do the task being led to “prayer service” in a dark room.

(Togami, tired of losing both shirts and employees to the girl, decided to leave her be.)

And poor Kiibo. He spent an extra week in Miu’s work room, having his design altered to look like he’s wearing a suit not made of metal. 

(The sounds that came from behind that door will haunt Shuichi for years.)

It is through this focus on his classmates' choice in attire that brings Shuichi’s focus to the odd behaviors exhibited by some of them.

Miu no longer wears her chokers, despite them being the first things she made after waking up from her coma.

(The amount of outrageous things she added to those small bands both astounded and horrified Shuichi when she told him.) 

And Kaede flinches when approached from behind, her hands briefly brushing at her neck, like she’s trying to stop something from  _ snapping _ around it. 

(He quickly changes the subject when it happens, lest Kaede get that look in her eyes at his reaction (so sad, so sorry, and all he can think is  _ you don’t need to apologize I should have realized the truth  _ sooner _. _ ))

Shuichi has yet to see Rantaro enter the small library in their wing of the building.

(Shuichi has seen the burning desire to step over the boundary in his green eyes multiple times, the want to know more about their situation and the world they now live in stilted by the musty smell of old books and creaking doors.)

Ryoma stared blankly out a window for nearly an hour.

(Completely zoned out. Listening to the drip drip drip of the steady rain outside and the sloshing of poodles that sounded too much like the muffled water that drowned him.)

Angie and Tenko avoid the hospital wing like the plague. 

(And Shuichi, knowing who still sleeps there, leaves the girls be.)

Shuichi will sometimes catch Kirumi in the kitchen, her eyes distant. He’ll see her wearing the same look as she walks about the indoor vegetable garden.

(As the blades in the blinder spin round and round like the blades of a saw. As the rustling of plants remind her of the hand-numbing pain of thorny vines. )

Kaito will spend nights outside, staring at the stars with an odd expression.

(Like his dreams of touring the stars has been both achieved, but tainted in some way Shuichi couldn’t understand.)

Kiibo, when he was finally declared repaired by Miu, spent much of his time reading over and learning as much about his creation and mechanisms as Miu could teach him.

(A fear of losing control of his own thoughts and actions fueling him.)

Maki will yank her friends behind her when doors are shut just a little too loudly. Himiko flinches at the sound of falling objects, and her eyes widen in fear when shadows ghost over her. 

(As Shuichi’s mind flashes back to the moment when the world was nothing but explosions and ceiling coming down to crush and bury him.)

The corruption of the New World Program may have saved them from falling to despair, but Shuichi would be lying if he said that Momkuma and his Kubs didn’t leave their mark on all of them.

So, Shuichi did what any observant friend would do. He adjusted. 

He suggested that Miu use her old chokers as hair ties when she’s working.

(Shuichi remembers how her face lit up at the suggestion, ideas swirling in her head at how she could modify the bands to be even better than before despite being in a less accessible area.)

He makes sure to make his presence known when walking up behind Kaede, and makes sure to stop Kaito from patting her shoulder when they talk.

(Her plum colored eyes shine with happiness instead of misplaced regret when she looks into his eyes, now.)

Shuichi regularly brings Rantaro books from the library, feeding his curiosity of how the outside world has changed.

(The latter gives him a knowing and thankful look when they sit down to read together during their breaks.)

He asks Kaede to play her keyboard on rainy days, as they sit in the small room Ryoma had claimed as his space for reminiscing.

(Shuichi smiles when he spies Ryoma softly swaying to Kaede’s music, the tennis player’s mind tuned in to memories far better than what the sound of rain could provide.)

He walks with Angie and Tenko when they finally decide to visit the still-comatose Gonta in the hospital wing. He walks, and talks, distracts, and silently supports them as they pass by Korekiyo’s room.

(Much like with Ryoma and Kirumi, he knows that that will be a conversation he cannot interfere with, despite how much he wishes to help.)

He’ll ask questions about her life and make simple requests as Kirumi moves about the cafeteria and indoor garden.

(Pulling her back into the present when she gets lost in the sounds of spinning blades and the rustling of plants.)

Shuichi continues the tradition of late night workouts, Maki finishing first as usual, and asks Kaito about the stars they stare up at.

(Maki gives Shuichi a knowing look as Kaito’s eyes light up, the young astronaut passionalty imparting to them his vast knowledge of the small glowing specks in the sky and the darkness that surrounded them.)

(Shuichi can see the hunger to be amongst the stars (the  _ real  _ stars) return to his best friend’s eyes.) 

Kiibo looked so shocked when Shuichi suggested they prank some of the employees with the new voice changing feature the robot had discovered after reading his blueprints.

(After they successfully lied their way out of punishment, the two of them grinned. The look Kiibo gave was not an expression Professor Idabashi had programmed in his mechanical son. It was a smile so genuine, so Kiibo, that no amount of file manipulation could come close to emulating it.)

Shuichi’s reflexes improve exponentially as he learns to catch everything, be it a glass cup or a 25 pound encyclopedia, before it hits the ground. Himiko mentions in passing how the doors around the three of them who woke last are shut with a gentle click instead of a sudden slam by their friends. Maki saw how Kaito, Rantaro, and all their tallest friends adjust their posture so they don’t tower as much.

(He shares a look with them. He doesn’t have to tell them how he feels. They both know all too well.)

As the days go on, some of these odd quirks wane. Others, sadly, get a little worse. Shuichi continues to adapt.

Because, despite their scars, Shuichi couldn’t be any happier. The simulation left its mark, but Shuichi chooses to focus on the positive.

They’re free. They’re healing.

And that’s all he could ever ask for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4 is finished! And with only a week before I’m back in school! I know I said I’d try to get out chapter 5 before I got back to school, but sadly, I don’t think that’s gonna happen. There’s a bit more that I want to add to it, and characters I have yet to give actual personalities to (you’ll understand when you read it).
> 
> Anywho, I’ll do my best to work on chapter 5 during the semester. Depending on my workload, I might just get it out DURING the semester instead of when it ends in April (Spring Break is freaking canceled, so there went the plan to post it THEN).
> 
> If you have any questions, leave a comment. If you don’t have questions and just want to say something, leave a comment. If you want to bash on my horrendous writing, leave a comment! All comments are welcome in this household!


	5. The Dream No One Expected Pt1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m only 5 weeks into school and I already want to die. Like, more so than usual. I usually don’t write while in school, but I needed some kind of distraction from all the BS my group mates and professors keep shoving at me, so here you go. Chapter 5, earlier than even I expected. I might go back and rewrite it later, because it’s a pretty important chapter that foreshadows some stuff (flashbacks, it foreshadows flashbacks, guys) and I’m not sure if I got the information across all that well. We’ll have to wait and see, though, cause we’re on our way. Enjoy!

They’d been a part of the Future Foundation for only a few weeks when  _ they _ started showing up.

No one had expected it, but Shuichi knew that none of his friends would forget.

They arrived at Branch 14’s base in small groups. In twos, sometimes in threes, they slowly found their way to where Shuichi and his friends had been spending their days recovering.

The first one to arrive was Professor Idabashi.

The guards, all trained fighters and battle tested in this apocalypse, were somehow unable to stop the aging scientist as he made his way up the building steps and into Branch 14’s stronghold. 

The older man hadn’t even been in the building for more than a minute before shouting: “WHERE’S MY BOY AND WHAT DID YOU DUNDERHEADS DO TO HIM?!”

Shuichi remembers being extremely confused, having grown used to the monotony of his life while recovering. An old man breaking into the building and soundly beating the daylights out of the security staff with nothing but a wooden cane and harsh words was not something Shuichi was prepared to comprehend at the time.

Kiibo let out a peculiar sound, a mix of grinding gears and broken cassette tapes, that Shuichi could only interpret as Kiibo’s version of a squeal of excitement. Using his recently modified foot rockets, the Ultimate Robot quite literally  _ launched _ himself at the elderly man in a lab coat, whose entrance would most assuredly convince Togami to up the guards training to torture level intensity.

By the time Shuichi had made it down the stairs to the middle of the commotion, things seemed to have calmed down as the now identified Professor Idabashi opened various panels on Kiibo’s person, a clipboard in hand as he marked things off what Shuichi assumed was a checklist detailing Kiibo’s various functions.

Speaking of Kiibo, the young robot was beaming as he looked back and forth between Professor Idabashi and his slowly gathering friends, his eyes brighter than Shuichi had ever seen. 

“Guys,” he yelled unnecessarily due to them being only a few paces away, but excitement will do that to anyone, “Guys,  _ look _ , it’s my dad! My dad is here!” The Professor slowly stood, seeming satisfied with Kiibo’s condition, and was abruptly shaken and corralled towards the small groups of teens. “Professor! Dad, dad, look, it’s my friends! I have friends now, dad,  _ look _ !”

Profesor Idabashi slowly reached back and placed a gentle hand on the excited boy's head, nodding as he looked at his son’s new friends, “Yes, yes, I see them Kiibo. Calm down.” The Professor’s gaze zeroed in on Shuichi.

The young detective suddenly realized that his friends had quietly maneuvered themselves so that  _ he _ was at front and center of their little pack. Shuichi would glare at them if he wasn't being stared down by an old scientist who just took out some 20 guards without breaking a sweat. Why did everyone unanimously agree to make  _ him _ their spokesperson?

The Professor, apparently done with his examination of their group of would-be-fifteen, spoke. “So you’re the group of youngins that kept my boy safe during this apocalypse, huh?”

_ Well, we’ve only been awake for a few weeks _ , Shuichi thought,  _ and none of us really remember what happened to us  _ before _ being placed in the Neo World Program. _ Nonetheless, Shuichi nodded. Ever since their awakening, they’ve all tried their best to look out for each other, so Shuichi guessed that the Professor’s assumption was  _ sort of _ true as things stood right now.

The Professor placed his hand on Shuichi’s shoulder, and nodded back. “Then you all have my thanks. It’s good to finally meet the children who brought such joy into my Kiibo’s life, despite all the despair in the world today.”

Shuichi felt an odd sense of deja vu, like he’d heard these words before. Like he’d  _ met  _ Idabashi in some manner. Before he could ponder, though, the professor turned his gaze to another member of Shuichi’s group of friends.

Miu’s gaze was on firmly on the ground, her feet shuffling back and forth in agitation. Idabashi’s eyes bore into her with an intensity and knowing that Shuichi couldn’t place. The professor made his way through the small crowd, his eyes never leaving Miu. 

Looking at them side by side, Shuichi realized that Miu and a majority of their friends actually had a few inches on the elderly professor. But Idabashi’s sheer presence made it seem like he was as large as a skyscraper. 

“H-hey, old timer,” Miu stammered, an almost....  _ humble _ look on the usually prideful inventor. “I kept my promise, just like you told me to.” Her eyes flicked up to quickly glance at Kiibo standing behind his father. “I remember making sure there wouldn’t be a scratch on him when you picked him up.”

Professor Idabashi continued to stare.

Miu grew more flustered at the silence. “Now, I-I can’t remember what happened before we woke up  _ here _ , but I made sure he was as good as new when we finally did. He’s still a bit- a bit buggy because we’ve been adding some stuff but-”

The professor reached up to Miu… and placed a gentle hand on her head.

“I’d noticed, youngin’,” he said while ruffling her hair, a fond smile growing on his face. “You did good, keepin’ you both safe all this time.” 

Where she’d usually get red faced and flustered, Miu’s face instead lit up, her smile turning just as bright as Kiibo’s at the praise. 

Kirumi, standing on the outskirts of their little cluster chose to use that moment of silence to interject. “I don’t intend to ruin such a tender moment, but I presume I’m not the only experiencing deja-vu each time the good professor speaks, no?”

Shuichi looked around as all his friends gave hesitant nods.

“And it seems our dear Miu knows Professor Idabashi from somewhere, despite never mentioning it whenever Kiibo spoke of him previously,” Rantaro jumped in, his eyes narrowing on the blonde, “Did you perhaps remember something from  _ before _ ?”

“I-I didn’t know it was  _ him _ !” Miu exclaimed, growing uncomfortable at all the attention, “I just remembered making a-a promise to someone. That I’d keep “Kiibo’s ticker tickin’” until our “playdate” was done. I didn’t remember anything else until he came in bashin’ guards with his stupid stick!”

“I had sent Kiibo to Miu’s lab a week before the world went sideways,” Idabashi explained, “Hope’s Peak had set me up to be her robotics mentor when she got accepted, so I took some initiative and got acquainted before her letter actually arrived.” He shrugged, “Kiibo needed a friend his own age and she needed experience working with more advanced machinery. If I’d known the world was gonna end, I would have brought  _ her _ to  _ my _ lab. Instead, I ended up having to chase you youngins across the country as you kept away from those darn Remnants.”

“How did you know where they were?” Rantaro asked, “Even I would find it be pretty difficult to track two teenagers in a post-apocalyptic world with nothing but my wits.”

Professor Idabashi laughed, and reached up to flick at Kiibo’s ahoge. “This thing ain’t just for show, though it does give my boy a “main character” vibe,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cracked touchscreen, “it’s an antenna. Call it helicopter parenting if you want, but one of its functions is to act as a GPS, so I’d know where he was at all times.”

The professor tapped a few buttons on the screen. “The GPS function is liable to mess up depending on the airwaves and such, but with Kiibo’s safety on the line, I added another, more specific frequency that his programming would tap into when he was in danger,” he looked at the surrounding teens and gave a wane smile, “I don’t know about you youngin’s, but I’d say traversing a crumbling nation with no one but Miu would account as dangerous.”

“Ah.” Shuchi exclaimed, suddenly remembering something, “I think I remember Miss Kirigiri telling me that they were able to find where the Remnants had hidden us away by tuning into an encrypted distress signal. Do you think it’s the same one?”

“Most likely. I designed it so that the signal would be transmitted through my personal satellite. That way, even if national frequencies got ruined, I’d still be able to track him if I modified and receiver enough.”

“Wait wait wait,” Kaito said, his hands waving around as he tried to comprehend everything, “back up a bit. When you were talking about your road trip looking for Miu and Kiibo, you said “you youngin’s”. By “you” did you mean  _ just _ Kiibo and Miu, or…”

Idabashi, squinted at Kaito, scratching his head. “You’re the space-boy, right?” Kaito nodded hesitantly, not caring about his botched title in favor of answers, “Thought I’d recognized ya. I meant all sixteen of you.” He put his hand to his chin in contemplation. “I had just thought it was a bug Miu had missed when fixin’ my boy, but you’re all having problems with your noggins?” Everyone nodded.

“None of us can remember what happened before we were put into the Neo World Program,” Shuichi explained.

Professor Idabashi nodded, letting out a “hmm” of understanding.

Kaede jumped in next. “But if you knew us- know everything that happened, can’t you just-”

The professor put up a hand to stop her. “I may not have a degree in psychology,” he said, looking all of them in the eyes, “but I don’t think forcing those memories of yours into coming back before they’re good and ready would be all that healthy. Best to let them return in their own time.”

Shuichi could feel his friends’ disappointment. And he wouldn’t lie to himself and say that he wasn’t disappointed either. But the Professor was justified in his worry. A sudden influx of memories wouldn’t have good effects.

Kaito, the group’s beloved optimist, chose that moment to work his magic. “Come on guys! No need to look so glum! It wouldn't have been very fair to get all our memories back right now, anyway. I mean, four of our friends aren’t even awake yet! I don’t want them to miss out!”

And somehow, that worked in lightening the mood.

Ryoma stuck a candy cigarette into his mouth, “I guess you’re right. Kokichi would cry those crocodile tears for hours if he found out he’d missed out.”

Himiko nodded, pulling on the brim of her hat. “Gonta would be really upset if he woke up from another simulation out of the loop again.”

“Korekiyo and Tsumugi, too.” Kaede added.

“Atua says that we will be punished if we do not wait for the others awake from their slumber.” Angie said, her hands clasped together in prayer as she listened to her god.

It seemed like everyone was on one accord.

Then the professor threw another curveball.

“Ah! I guess I should go ahead and let the others know it’s safe to come in, then.”

“OTHERS?!?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s the chapter then. As you can probably tell based on the title, our group has some family and friends to catch up with in the next chapter. I’m thinking this will only be two parts, but it might become three if I think chapter 6 is getting too long. 
> 
> I gave Miu a responsible adult to look up to. She seems like she needs one, especially with her personality. And when she and Kiibo get married (because I ship it and it will happen even if I don’t actually write it), she’ll already be a part of the family!
> 
> What’d you guys think of Professor Idabashi, by the way? My favorite characters in anime are the old guys who can kick butt and be wise and crap the very next second, and I think this rubbed off on the poor professor. Was his “accent” too much? Honestly, I wasn’t even trying to give him one, it just happened. 
> 
> If you have any questions, leave a comment. If you don’t have questions and just want to say something, leave a comment. If you want to bash on my horrendous writing, leave a comment! All comments are welcome in this household!


	6. The Dream No One Expected Pt2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, that last chapter really got some of you scared, huh? Maybe I should add a tag saying "an excuse to write fluff for characters that have suffered too much in canon." I just might, because that's what most of my fics amount to. There are so many fanfics out there that like to up the suffering and angst, and while they're good, sometimes you must want to read something that expands upon the existing universe and makes you feel good. That's my opinion, anyway, and I once received the sage advice that "if you can't find a fanfiction that scratches that itch, write it yourself."
> 
> When the curtain closed on Danganronpa V3 and I saw an opening to give these kids a happier ending, I took it. If you guys haven't already noticed, I haven't done much with Naegi and the rest of the Danganronpa 1 surviving cast. That's because their stories are basically going to be the same as in canon. Toko's still gonna be shipped off to Towa city to hangout with Komaru, Hinata and the gang are still gonna be put into the Neo World Program, and the killing game from DR3: Future Side is still going down, even if all these things happened "off camera" so to speak. I placed the V3 cast at this point in the timeline so they could interact with the cast of the other games while not mucking up the timeline too much. Timelines are something that I tend to avoid messing with because my imagination is too small to come up with alternative events in place of the ones I derail.
> 
> I won't lie and say that things will never get a bit angsty (because that’d just be a lesson in futility, and I get that enough in school) but I always try to bring my story back to a state of contentment in the end. I want these characters to have a happy end because I’m projecting my greatest wish onto them. I want a happy end after living my life the best I could, despite what the universe may throw at me. I do my best to give that to them, I guess in a form of thanks for the joy the characters have given me, both in canon and in the fanfics that other fans have written.
> 
> I think I’m done with my little TED talk, now. Enjoy this chapter!

After that, more “familiar” faces started showing up.

Professor Idabashi, during his travels in search of Kiibo and Miu, had come across several individuals who were looking for their loved ones, all of whom just so happened to be a part of Shuichi’s little group. When Shuichi and his friends had been captured, the ones searching for them had split and now traveled in smaller groups to cover more ground. The rest of the professor’s small party had stayed behind while he made sure the Branch 14 base was safe enough. And when Shuichi saw who Idabashi had been traveling with, he thought it made sense.

Three kids, looking to be around ages six, seven, and ten, charged in the glass doors after the professor had whistled outside, wooden bats raised and camouflage paint on their faces. 

“Out of our ways, evil doers!” The oldest boy yelled, swinging his bat at one of the guard’s shin, bringing the man to his knees.

“Where’s Maki?!?!” the second boy yelled, hitting the poor guard in the back and knocking him onto his chest.

“Maki, Maki, Maki,” the youngest girl chanted, jumping thrice on the downed guard’s back.

Shuichi turned his attention to the girl in question, seeing her brows pinch together in thought as she looked at the three children. Then, her eyes widened in recognition. 

“Ranran? Kota? Mizu?” She whispered, forcing her way to the front of the group. 

The three kids turned from their game of “keep the guard on the ground” and stood stock still, their eyes boring into Maki’s. Then, they all surged forward, like an unstoppable wave, and threw themselves into Maki’s waiting arms.

All Shuichi could hear for the next five minutes were the relieved tears of oh-so-very-happy children, and the comforting words of a confused but joyous Maki. Shuichi didn’t need to look long to find that light in Maki’s eyes that she tries so hard to hide. The light that tells him how much love she can give, despite what her training has made her capable of.

Shuichi and his friends disperse soon after, giving the small group their privacy.

  
  


“I can’t believe I’d forgotten them,” Maki says suddenly, Kaito and Shuichi pausing in their late night workout to listen. “They were the only ones from my orphanage to survive. That place never even crossed my mind until I was looking right at them.”

She was looking at the stars, her eyes distant as she recounted the few memories she had managed to grasp. “I was on a mission, I think, when the world ended. I used the chaos to get away from the organization and made my way to the orphanage. I wanted to get everyone out, get them somewhere safe so no one, not the rioters nor the organization could get them.” 

She twisted one of her pigtails in her hands. “I can’t remember what happened in between, but I remember finally getting there. The building was in flames, a group of despair enthusiasts chanting gleefully outside.” Her eyes turn hard, “They weren’t for very long after. I made sure of that.”

“By the time I’d finished, though, the orphanage was entirely engulfed in flames. I couldn’t get in, no matter what I did. So I sat there, surrounded by corpses, watching the place I’d tried so hard to protect burn to ash. 

When the fires died down, I started making my way through the rubble. I-I was never allowed to bury my targets, despite how much I wanted to. Their deaths were always supposed to be a statement over some kind. I wanted to give the kids I’d failed a proper send off that I had been unable to give to those I’d killed. I knew it wouldn’t have been penance, but it felt right. More right than I’d felt since I’d been taken away. 

I’m glad I went through with it, though. I don’t know how many small, charred bodies I’d put into the ground, but I guess it was because of the way black was seared into my vision that I was able to pick them out. They were all sickly pale, their white skin like a beacon in the dark remains of the orphanage. It took me an hour to dig them out from underneath the rubble and stone slab that had protected them from the fire. The shed behind the orphanage was left untouched, and I found an old red wheelbarrow to pile the three of them in.

“It took days but I eventually found an abandoned building that was stable enough for us to hide in. I'd forage in the nearby forest for food, and I took what little medical supplies there were in the shed. It took weeks, but eventually, they started to get better.” She looked to Shuichi and Kaito, a reminiscing look in her unusually expressive eyes. “I remember being so surprised when Ranran said my name as soon as she woke up. I thought she’d have forgotten me by then. She was so young the last time I’d seen her, seen any of them, but the three of them latched onto me just like they used to.”

Her gaze drifted to the doors of Branch 14’s base, where the three children slept. “The last thing I remember, before everything gets fuzzy like always, is a promise I made to myself the day I found them.” She looked down at her hands, “I’ve killed so many people. Innocent and guilty in equal measure. And I have the ability to do it again. I wanted to promise that I’d never kill again, but I knew that, with the way the world was going, I’d never be able to keep it.”

She looked to Kaito, the man who was her guiding star. “I promised that I’d only harm to protect. I’d only kill to keep my treasures safe. I-I can’t remember what I did after making that promise, or if I was even able to keep it but- do you think the rest of our friends would mind if- if I made them my treasures, too?”

Kaito’s exuberant mussing of her hair was enough of a response. Shuichi smiled.

She’d be okay. They’d make sure of it.

  
  


The next arrival was surprising. Not because another arrival was unexpected, but because of who he came for.

“Captain Tezuka?”

A man with dark brown hair swept gracefully to the left and wearing wire rim glasses stood stoically in the face of Ryoma’s uncharacteristic expressiveness. 

The man’s face remained passive, but his voice was kind as he spoke to Shuichi’s friend. “So Inui was correct. You’ve had us worried for a while, Ryoma, disappearing suddenly. It’s been 4 years.”

Ryoma glanced to the ground, shame in his eyes. “Couch Ryuzaki didn’t tell you?”

The man’s gaze never wavered. “She did. All of the regulars attended her granddaughter's funeral,” he paused, noticing Ryoma’s pinched expression, “She never blamed you for Sakuno’s death, Ryoma. None of us did.”

Ryoma never looked up. Tezuka sighed and walked closer, placing a calloused hand on Ryoma’s downturned head. “When Inui told us you’d never made it to your execution, we hoped you’d make your way back to town. When the Despair outbreak began, the team decided to get out of town. The other regulars decided they wanted to track you down.” He chuckled, and Ryoma looked up in shock. “They’ve missed their favorite underclassman.”

Ryoma’s face started to turn red.

Tezuka’s face returned to its passive expression, but his eyes were alight. He reached around, grasping at the tennis bag hanging across his body.

“The other’s are a few hours out. Momoshiro decided to try his hand at fishing in a small pond a couple of miles away and fell in. The others are making sure he doesn’t catch his death from the cold.” He unzipped the bag, “Kaido sent this one with me. He thought you’d miss him.”

Out of the bag popped the head of a Russian Blue cat, its face giving off the impression that it hadn’t liked the ride inside it in the slightest.

Ryoma’s eyes grew wide. He reached forward slowly, his usually steady hands trembling. The cat glanced at the tennis player, and jumped into his arms, startling him. The cat began enthusiastically licking Ryoma’s cheek. Ryoma smiled, the widest one Shuichi had ever seen. “Yeah, I missed you too, boy.”

A day later, Shuichi found Ryoma sat on the ground playing keep away with a piece of string with his newly returned cat, Kalpin. Shuichi sat next to him, enjoying the moderate silence in Ryoma’s “reminiscing room”. 

“I wanted to go back,” the other suddenly began, “I remember that day very clearly, despite the fog in the days after it.” Kalpin caught the string, and began rolling on the ground while dragging it. 

Ryoma looked out the window of the room. “I was being transferred to the building where I would be executed. It was just a few miles away from my prison, but it was far enough to give fate the opportunity to step in. The world had just begun to crumble, and word hadn’t gotten to that part of the country yet. No one knew about the Despair until it came falling from the sky.” He breathed out a sigh, “A passenger plane crashed right in front of my bus. I was the only one to walk away when the dust cleared, though my hands were still cuffed together.”

Kalpin finished his solo play and crawled into Ryoma’s lap as the other boy continued. “I don’t know how long I walked, but eventually I reached the forest that surrounded my town.” He sighed and placed his hand on Kalpin’s head. “I couldn’t bring myself to walk any closer. Despite 4 years passing, my family’s death was still fresh in my mind. And Sakuno’s grandmother still lived in town, along with my old teammates. Fear stilled my steps.”

Ryoma looked at Shuichi, his eyes glassy. “I’ve always been confident in my abilities, Shuichi. Even when I lost a game, I’d always find a way to make something better out of it. My teammates, the upperclassmen who’d helped me grow when I was stagnant, expected the world from me. And I had thought I could meet those expectations. But then I ruined it. One dumb decision, and I’d suddenly shatter all their expectations.” He looked down as he pet Kalpin’s fur, a self-deprecating smile on his face. “The entire time I spent on death row, all I could think about were the things I did wrong that got me there. The steps that I could have taken differently that would have saved them. And when I finally accepted that I couldn’t change the past no matter how much I wished it, all I wanted to do was join my family. I told my lawyer to stop fighting, and they decided my execution date a week later.”

“Standing at the threshold, all those thoughts came back to me.” He chuckled. “That town was probably over run with rioters by the time I got there, but the thing that stopped me from crossing that tree line? It was the thought that the players I respected so much would look at me with disappointment. So, I turned around, and I left.”

He picked Kalpin up and hugged the cat to his chest. “Looking back, I think that’s why the simulation wrote my motive in the Kubs Pad the way it did. I didn’t want to believe it, but, Captain and the others, their rejection would have shattered me. When I watched that video, it  _ did _ shatter me. When the end came, I didn’t fight. I knew, in the back of my mind, that the only ones I’d been fighting to live for didn’t want me.

He lifted Kalpin in the air. “But… they don’t hate me. Despite everything, they still came looking for me. Even if it takes me the rest of my life, I’ll find a way to repay them.” He glanced over at Shuichi, the words left unsaid hanging heavy in the air. “They gave me a reason to live again.”

_ It would have been easy to let me fade into the background, but none of you let me. You all gave me a reason to keep living, and kept me  _ here _ long enough for my old reason to return. So... Thank you.  _

Shuichi nodded, message received. The two of them continued to sit in the quiet of the room. No more words needed to be said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter turned out to be a bit heavier than I intended… And there were supposed to be more visitors this chapter, WTF!! Now I’m gonna have to figure out a way to incorporate the other introductions into another chapter!! Their parts are so small, I don’t think I’ll be able to write a substantial chapter with just them…. Dang it, Ryoma!!! Maki!!! Your backstories took up the other character’s screen time!
> 
> Don’t worry, I still love you two *Mwah!*
> 
> You can’t believe my excitement when I realized that Ryoma from DRV3 was based on Ryoma Echizen from The Prince of Tennis. It was my very first sports anime, and it holds a special place in my heart. Ryoma Hoshi and Ryoma Echizen are two very different characters, yes, but they're similar enough that I quickly grew attached to the former, even before I realized what was going on with all the references. You also wouldn’t believe the despair (no pun intended) I felt when I saw his death in chapter 2. Needless to say, this chapter was a long time coming. It was actually the first idea that came to me when I thought about writing a fic for DRV3. I got to give Ryoma Hoshi a little happiness while referencing one of my favorite anime. Conceptually, I was in heaven. Execution-wise, however, I’m unsure of how I did.
> 
> Did you guys like what I did with Maki? I was having a really hard time keeping her in character while also fleshing out her character and backstory. I’m kind of meh about it. I like some parts, I hate others. Ryoma’s section was purely for my enjoyment, so even if I think it sucks, I still love it. It was a bit… longer than I intended, however. 
> 
> Anywho, I’ll see what I can do about the characters you missed. As I said previously, there were only a few, and I wasn’t planning on fleshing out their respective classmate’s reactions like I did with these two, but plans (especially my plans) change so… yeah. Either the next chapter is gonna be really short, or it’s going to be heckin’ long. Maybe I’ll split it between the rest of this chapter and what was supposed to be chapter 7. I haven’t decided.
> 
> As always, if you have any questions, leave a comment. If you don’t have questions and just want to say something, leave a comment. If you want to bash on my horrendous writing, leave a comment! All comments are welcome in this household!

**Author's Note:**

> Updates will be sporadic, but I'll try to not leave you hanging.


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